Shannon Costello

As I become a more experienced reading teacher, I find that I more deliberately employ some of the strategies that I teach. That is why I am about to inflict my predictions for the final Harry Potter book on a world that is already overcrowded with such conjectures.

1) Voldemort will be defeated. I haven’t always been as certain of this as I am now. It is clear that Voldemort has fallen into the same type of error the White Witch makes in the Chronicles of Narnia. Both place great confidence in their own powers while discounting those which they do not understand. Rowling mentions this idea more than once, and I believe the weight of literary tradition here dictates that Voldemort’s error will lead to his ultimate demise.

2) Somebody major will have to die, but Harry, Ron, and Hermione will all survive. I am going out on a limb with this one. I wouldn’t put it past J. K. Rowling to kill Harry off. I think Ron is the most expendable, and that worries me. However, they are the main characters and their friendship is important. Killing off a main character is enough to make readers drop the series in despair. That’s why it took me so long to finish the Lord of the Rings trilogy the first time through.

3) The Harry/Ginny pairing is not totally dead. I think J. K. Rowling spent too much time building up to that to drop it this abruptly.

4) R. A. B. is Regulus Black, Sirius’ younger brother. This is a nice little theory, even if I didn’t think of it first. R. A. B. is someone who knows Voldemort, works for his downfall, and expects to be killed by him. The little that we know of Regulus seems to meet these requirements. In addition, Rowling does tend to give clues within her books. This is certainly subtle enough to fit her usual pattern. Regulus come up in book 5 and R. A. B. is at the end of book 6. Those interested can read lots more by typing those initials into Google, believe it or not.

5) Peter Pettigrew will repay his debt to Harry. Harry saved his life and Dumbledore specifically mentioned that Peter was in Harry’s debt.

6) Snape opposes Voldemort and Harry will not kill him. J. K. Rowling has successfully played with my mind on this one. I base my prediction on Dumbledore’s trust in Snape and the pains Rowling has taken to paint him in a sympathetic light. We have also seen Harry be mistaken about someone’s loyalties in the past.